The holidays are here - it's time to go forth and buy goodies for your loved ones.
Last year, e-commerce holiday season sales alone totaled a whopping $79 billion, as 47% of U.S. consumers bought their gifts online.
But with transactions comes the risk of holiday identity theft...
Between Nov. 24 and Dec. 5, 2014, IBM's Digital Analytics Benchmark reported hackers were responsible for more than 10 major data breaches that affected nearly 72,000 records at retailers nationwide.
Amid this peak retail season, arm yourself with these simple tips to keep your identity... your own.
Protect Yourself from Holiday Identity Theft with These Tips
No. 1: Prevent holiday identity theft by changing passwords on all the websites where you regularly shop or bank.
Have you had the same password for the last five years?
It's time to change it up.
Create a password that is long, complicated, and doesn't reference any of your personal information. Consider using uppercase and lowercase letters, numbers, and punctuation. The word you use should not be in the dictionary or a name of a place.
One trendy way to generate a password is to use phrases and swap out letters for numbers and punctuation. You want one as random as possible: 4s R@nD0m @S p0sSiBl3.
No. 2: Prevent holiday identity theft by watching "the point of sale."
Literally, you should keep your eyes on the physical devices used at stores to complete your purchases. "Skimmers" are tools used by scammers to steal your information as you swipe your card at the gas pump, checkout line, or ATM.
A good rule of thumb is to never use a card reader that appears to have been tampered with or looks like it has been simply added on to the other systems.
Also, another important tip for using the ATM...
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Always keep your PIN number out of sight when using a debit card; simply cover the number pad with your free hand or your body to prevent others from seeing your access code.
No. 3: Prevent holiday identity theft by keeping close watch over credit card and debit card transactions.
Don't wait for the statement showing your holiday purchases to show up. Instead, regularly monitor your account for any suspicious transactions, no matter how small they seem. Fraudsters will first test stolen card information by making a small transaction. If it works, they will move onto larger and more damaging purchases.
No. 4: Prevent holiday identity theft by knowing who you're buying from.
When visiting a retailer's website, type the name into the URL line carefully or select the top result from a Google search, suggested The Wall Street Journal. Many fake versions of popular websites exist to capture your information. These phony sites often have URLs that are one letter or number off from the real version and take advantage of people who enter misspelled names. Also, look for the "https" in the URL, which indicates a secure interaction.
No. 5: Prevent holiday identity theft by not responding to too-good-to-be-true email offers.
Don't click on links or fill out forms in emails to get a once-in-a-lifetime deal. Instead, do your homework. If this is your first interaction with a new merchant, check them out with the Better Business Bureau. And beware of prices that are significantly cheaper than everywhere else. The deal really might be too good to be true.
Get more consumer fraud prevention tips on Money Morning's Facebook page or Twitter @moneymorning.
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